Alberto Mares lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He became a member of NAEYC several years ago and attended his first state affiliate conference as a teacher assistant (freshly transitioned from the field of journalism, his other career at the time). He learned all about the ECE profession through NAEYC and went on to be the first recipient of the Diane Trister Dodge Lasting Legacy Scholarship. One day a mentor "tapped" him on the shoulder and asked if he would lead the local chapter as president. He did. This started his involvement in nonprofit leadership. He's gone on to serve as president of and is a current board member of New Mexico AEYC. When the chance to apply for the Affiliate Advisory Council arose, Alberto didn't hesitate to throw his hat in the ring. He wanted to connect and learn from other education leaders from across the country. Since his affiliate tenure began, he's had the opportunity to organize Affiliate Day at NAEYC and PLI conferences and has learned critical insights about effectively running nonprofit membership associations, how to benchmark nonprofit success, and increasing board member diversity through the framework of High Performing Inclusive Organizations (HPIO). Alberto is currently a regional program manager and leads a team of instructional coaches with the Early Childhood Services Center at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.